“Welcome to Davis Bradford Middle School, Miss Leaver.” Mrs. Pete said.

“Thanks,” Kadyn replied. She stood at the front of the room, trying hard to keep her nerves in check. She never liked public speaking, but that wasn’t the main reason for her queasy stomach and thumping heart this time. This time, Kadyn was terrified of messing up.

“Can you tell us a little about yourself? Maybe start with where you’re from?”

“I’m from Cocoa Beach. That’s… that’s in Florida. The eastern side.”

“Ah Florida. I absolutely adore Florida. I’ve never been to the Cocoa Beach area though.”

Kadyn didn’t reply. She’d never been there either. The girl she was pretending to be, however, had lived there her entire life.

“And what’s Cocoa Beach like?”

Kadyn closed her eyes for a moment and visualized all the things she had learned over the past few weeks. There were so many photographs and papers having to do with Cocoa Beach, Sarah Leaver’s hometown. Kadyn hoped she memorized enough to get through the next few minutes. “It’s awesome there. The sand is super soft. It’s almost like powder, and they have this pier that stretches way out over the ocean.”

“Is it a fishing pier, or is it full of touristy stuff?”

“Touristy stuff. Lots of it. The pier goes out about eight-hundred feet, and it has gift shops, restaurants, live music… even a mini-golf place called Senor Putt-Putts. Me and my friends used to go there all the time.” 

Kadyn tried to make it sound like Cocoa Beach was a place she not only loved but missed. Just like they told her to do.

“I think I’d prefer the shops,” Mrs. Pete said. “Are they open year-round?”

Kadyn thought it over. Nothing like that was in her notes. The temperature, she knew, got as low as the mid-sixties in January, the coldest month. In New Jersey, where she was actually from, mid-sixties meant t-shirts and shorts. She made an educated guess. “Yeah. They’re open all the time.” Then for good measure she added, “It never really gets too cold there. Just windy sometimes, especially in winter.” 

She was feeling better now, less nervous. A few more questions, and she should be home free.

“And how close were you to the ocean? Was it right outside your door?” 

“No, but I did live close. The beach was only about a fifteen-minute walk from Greenwood Lane. That was my street.”

Her reply was met with silence. She almost turned around but stopped herself. Everything’s fine, she told herself. You’re doing fine.

“It looks like Billy has a question.”

Kadyn turned around then, out of confusion more than anything else. “Billy?”

“Billy Gunderman,” Mrs. Pete replied, nodding towards the back of the room. Mrs. Pete was a stout old woman with a bull-doggish face. She was smiling, but it didn’t sit well with Kadyn, like it was a poorly constructed prop. “You’re fine with answering a few questions from your classmates, aren’t you?”

What else could Kadyn do but oblige? She faced forward. There was the slightest urge to pick at the scar on her palm, but she resisted. She had this. All she needed to do was keep calm and play the part. That was something else they had told her: Keep calm. Play the part. Here you’re hidden. Here you’re safe. 

On the worst nights, especially those early on when she and her mom still lived at the safe house, that had been her mantra, her bedtime prayer.

“Not sure if you heard him since he’s way in the back, but Billy said his grandparents live in Cocoa Beach too.

“You’ll have to speak up, Billy!” Mrs. Pete shouted, making Kadyn flinch. “What street? Greenwood Lane? You say your grandparents live on Greenwood Lane?”

Kadyn’s face grew warm.

“Why, that’s the same street you lived on, isn’t it, Sarah? Do you know Billy Gunderman’s grandparents?”

Of all the ways Kadyn imagined her class introduction going, this wasn’t one of them. “I… they… I mean, I don’t–“

Mrs. Pete cut her off. “Billy also says he visits his grandparents every summer and that he knows all the kids who live on their block. For some reason he doesn’t remember ever seeing you.” She paused as if letting the importance of that sentence sink in. 

It did sink in. It sank right into Kadyn’s gut. It wasn’t fair. What were the chances that some kid from her class would know the street she supposedly lived on? One in a billion? To keep her hands from shaking, Kadyn squeezed them into fists. The scar tingled.

“And just like that,” Mrs. Pete said with a snap of her fingers, her breath hot against Kadyn’s ear, “your cover’s blown.”

#

“Go back to your seat, Sarah.”

Head down, Kadyn did as she was told. She felt the stares coming from both sides of the room — from Mrs. Pete who stood near the counter and from her mom who was sitting alone at the kitchen table. She sat next to her mom. A moment later, there was a gentle squeeze on her knee. Kadyn didn’t acknowledge it but continued looking through her curly red-orange hair at the smattering of notebooks and photographs in front of her.

“You did fine, bug,” her mom whispered. “Don’t worry about it.”

Kadyn didn’t reply. Talking might lead to tears, and the last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of that witch, Mrs. Pete. After weeks of memorization and note-taking, today was supposed to be the day Kadyn finally proved she was ready. Leave it to Mrs. Pete to call her out over one stupid mistake.

“Let this be a lesson,” Mrs. Pete said as if reading Kadyn’s mind. “Don’t EVER give out extra information. I never asked for your street name. You decided to tell me anyway, and look what happened. If there really had been a Billy Gunderman, he would have just exposed you. And you know what that means, right?”

Kadyn said nothing, though she knew the answer. She’d heard it at least a dozen times. She and her mom would be relocated again. They’d have to start over. Again.

“Joyce,” Mrs. Pete called, “it’s your turn. Mock job interview. Let’s go.”

Kadyn’s mom tucked her long black hair behind her ears and stood. Her real name was Meredith Hopplar, not Joyce Leaver, just like Kadyn’s wasn’t Sarah. Kadyn didn’t like their new names. Maybe in time, she’d grow to like them, but right now she didn’t. They received them the same day they were flown to Aurora, Colorado to start their new lives a little more than a month ago.

“Wish me luck,” her mom said under her breath.

Kadyn wished her luck as she walked by, and her eyes caught movement outside their kitchen window. A heavy snow was falling. Good. Hopefully tonight’s therapy session would be canceled. She liked her therapist, Doctor Borshick. He was a lot nicer than Mrs. Pete. What Kadyn didn’t like was leaving the house to get to his office and back. Whenever she was outside, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

#

Their appointment wasn’t canceled. Several hours after Mrs. Pete had left for the day, Kadyn and her mom made the drive to Doctor Borshick’s office. It took only fifteen minutes despite the snow, but to Kadyn, the drive lasted an eternity. Time didn’t pick up again until she caught the fragrance of the lobby’s cinnamon scented potpourri. Breathing it in was like breathing in armor. 

Doctor Borshick was waiting just inside. He smiled when he saw the sheet of paper in Kadyn’s hand. “Hi Sarah. You brought me another masterpiece, I see.”

Kadyn greeted him and handed over the drawing. He took one look and laughed. “This is very good. Did you show Mrs. Pete?”

“No way! She would have killed me.”

Kadyn and her mom followed Doctor Borshick down the hall to his office. Once inside, they took their normal seats in front of his desk as he closed the door. “I’m going to hang this up if you don’t mind.” 

“As long as Mrs. Pete doesn’t see it,” Kadyn said.

“I’ll make sure.”

The sketch was of Mrs. Pete. The likeness was spot on, which was no surprise. Kadyn had been the top artist in her seventh-grade class last year after all. The part Mrs. Pete would have a problem with would be the pointy witch’s hat Kadyn had drawn on her head and the gnarled broom she was perched upon.

Doctor Borshick affixed the sketch to his bulletin board, covering several more official-looking documents, before taking a seat behind his desk. He was an older man with tousled gray hair and always wore the same stretched-out garnet cardigan for their appointments. He looked more like a retired rock star than a therapist.

Kadyn wasn’t surprised when one of the first topics of this evening’s session had to do with her drawing. 

“Any particular reason you were compelled to turn Mrs. Pete into a witch?”

Kadyn told him about the disastrous classroom introduction. 

He listened carefully and nodded in all the right places. When she was done, he took his time crafting a response. “I know she can be tough, but remember, it’s only for a few more weeks. You’ll be starting Phase Two soon. Then she’ll move on to her next relocation assignment and be out of your hair forever.”

Phase Two. Those two words frightened her. Her mom too. 

Doctor Borshick must have picked up on a change in atmosphere. He stared at them each in turn for several moments. “Looks like there’s something on your minds. Care to share?”

“Phase Two,” Meredith said with no hesitation.

Kadyn nodded in agreement.

Phase Two was defined as the time when their new lives would officially begin. Kadyn would start school, her mom would get a job, and as an added bonus, Kadyn would never have to see Mrs. Pete again. Their only interaction with the witness protection program would be these therapy sessions with Doctor Borshick and a monthly check-in call to the local agent assigned to them. As far as starting school went, Kadyn had mixed feelings. On one hand, she couldn’t wait to be around kids her own age. It had been so long. On the other, going to school meant leaving the safety of her home on a daily basis.

Meredith explained her own concerns. “Everyone made such a big deal about our safety before the relocation. It was even too dangerous to set foot outside, remember? We had armed guards assigned to us for Christ’s sake. Now we’re expected to carry on like nothing happened. I think we’re both feeling like… like…”

“Like how could the danger not still exist?” Doctor Borshick said.

“Exactly.”

“I completely understand how you’re feeling, but as we discussed, you have to trust the process. It works. You’ve been moved far from home, and you have new identities. They’ll never find you. More importantly, I’m positive they’re not even looking.”

Meredith gave him a confused look. “How do you figure that?”

“Well, the trial’s over. Arrigo Barbu will spend the rest of his life in jail. There’s no reason for his thugs to come after you now. There’s nothing to gain. In fact, there’s more to lose.”

Kadyn’s stomach twisted at the mention of that psycho’s name. She wanted to tell Doctor Borshick that to some people, Arrigo’s brother, for example, revenge was plenty a good reason, but she didn’t say anything. Doing so would only upset her more, her mom too.

The rest of the session was spent discussing ways to combat anxiety — breathing and mental exercises mostly. Kadyn left his office not feeling any better.

Their car sat in an island of light near the front of an otherwise empty parking lot. Kadyn looked into the deep darkness as they walked, examining all the places where someone could be waiting for them. She tried one of Doctor Borshick’s breathing exercises, but it only made her lightheaded. 

Her mom offered her hand. Kadyn took it and squeezed.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Kadyn replied with a heavy breath. “You?”

Her mom tried to smile. “I’m fine. As long as we have each other, bug, we’ll be fine.”

It was meant to make Kadyn feel better, but all it did was remind her that while they had each other, she didn’t have her dad. Because of Arrigo Barbu and his brother, she never would.

They got in the car and started for home. By about the halfway point, between the darkness and the rhythmic hum of the road, Kadyn’s anxiety gave way to exhaustion. She rested her head against the glass and closed her eyes. The chill felt good against her skin. She would have stayed that way the rest of the ride home if not for her mom slamming on the brakes.

Kadyn sat up, body rigid, and turned towards her. In the darkness, she could only make out the glimmer of her mom’s wide-eyed stare, but it was enough to chill Kadyn to her core. She followed her mom’s gaze through the front windshield. They’d just crested the hill at the top of their street. About a hundred yards ahead of them, bathed in the light of their high beams, was a man. He was crouched next to their house, ankle deep in the snow. He was looking in their direction.